MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Immediate impact of US funding cuts on civil society and LGBTI+ rights in the Western Balkans and Türkiye – E-001190/2025

Question for written answer  E-001190/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle (Renew)

Recently, the US has stopped funding LGBTI+ civil society organisations (CSOs) in the Western Balkans and Türkiye. This withdrawal has forced several organisations to shut down and has put activists at direct risk of persecution as local governments intensify their crackdowns on civil society. Anti-LGBTI+ and nationalist groups are already exploiting this crisis to further discredit and attack these organisations. Without an immediate European response, the region’s efforts to promote democracy and human rights will be severely undermined[1].

• 1.Does the Commission agree that the work of LGBTI+ organisations in the Western Balkans and Türkiye is crucial, particularly in the context of their EU accession process and duty to comply with the fundamental values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union?
• 2.How will the Commission ensure that LGBTI+ organisations in the Western Balkans and Türkiye are sufficiently funded to prevent closures and lay-offs, and will the Commission consider expanding eligibility criteria for EU funding to ensure that LGBTI+ organisations can get better access to financial recourses? If not, why not?
• 3.What other measures will the Commission take to counter the growing anti-LGBTI+ rhetoric that is being used to undermine CSOs in the Western Balkans and Türkiye, which embodies discriminatory policies and further stigmatises human rights defenders, creating a chilling effect on activism and advocacy efforts?

Submitted: 20.3.2025

• [1] ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey: Impacts of U.S. funding cuts on LGBTI+ rights organizations in the Western Balkans and Türkiye: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BcOtAM49adb5MJZQP_v–BLAZXD8K5oK/view.